Traffic Lights
by wintercrystal
Summary: Since they had so much fun last year, best friends Kurt and Blaine decide to join their university's Freshman Adventure Camp again; but this time as camp seniors. AU!Klaine


crazycarebare, blackbirdprince and Nonnie prompted "Oh my god. You're in love!"+ "You're a terrible liar"+"get down, now!" + "you really weren't kidding were you?

Note: Hints of Samcedes, Tike and Niff too. Those that have been following me should know that writing this fic really means quite a lot to me; I spent a lot of time writing and refining it. I was a camp senior a few weeks ago and all the games here were what we played then. It's the longest fic I've written so far and I had the most amazing time writing this. I hope that you all like it!

* * *

"Purples, get down, now! Only the Reds can score!"

Kurt chuckled from his seat as he watched his freshies with purple paint on their arms quickly duck, and those with red paint holler for the ball, following the game master's orders. They were out on the field playing Colour Captain Ball, much like the normal Captain Ball, but with added rules of which colour can score.

It was day one of camp, and to say that he had been nervous was a serious understatement. Being a camp senior placed quite a large responsibility on his shoulders, especially with him being the head senior for his Orientation Group. Luckily, he had the other seniors of the OG to help him out. Blaine, Rachel, Quinn and Elliot were his trusty sidekicks for this camp, and together, they made the seniors of the OG Griffin.

* * *

Just a year ago he had participated in exact the same camp, Freshman Adventure Camp was its name, and had thoroughly enjoyed it. It was thanks to his seniors' help that he learnt the basics of campus, from where the best canteen was to who the most interesting lecturers were, and he wanted to be the same guiding hand for the incoming freshies this year.

He had met Blaine there, assigned to the same OG, both shy and nervous about their first year in university. They became friends really quick, considering that they had a lot of common interests and became lecture buddies after camp. Before they knew it, they were best friends, and they had FAC to thank for it.

So when the FAC committee called for seniors to help in this year's camp, Kurt and Blaine jumped at the opportunity.

The objective of the camp was simple, to ease the freshmen into the hectic life of university and on the way make some new friends.

That being said, it was also fun teasing them. When he was a freshie, the seniors all teased them, and now he got to do it to the new freshies. It was like tradition, sort of like the circle of life, but better.

"Hey." Someone dropped down onto the seat next to him, and Kurt turned to see a familiar gelled down head of hair.

"They seem to be having fun." Blaine laughs, watching the Greens yell for the ball, "Colour Captain Ball… I remember this game, I was so bad at it."

"Your enthusiasm made up for your lack of game." Kurt shrugged and chuckles when Blaine smacks him.

"I have no idea why I put up with you." He huffs, crossing his arms and pouting.

"Because I'm your best friend," Kurt sings, nudging his side playfully.

He sees something shift in Blaine's eyes for a split second before it disappeared, and a tired smile tugged at his lips, "yeah."

"Game over!" Santana, the game master calls and both of them return their attention to the groups on the field.

"Let's head over." Kurt stands and tugs Blaine up with him and they both walk closer to hear the results.

"Well I expected more bloodshed, but it was good game anyway. Griffin wins, with the score of 9-7." She declares and Kurt and Blaine watch as their freshies cheer.

"Good job, guys!" Blaine and Kurt hoot, clapping and patting their freshies on the back.

* * *

 _Kurt watched as his fellow campmates trickled into the room. It was his first day at camp and he really didn't know what to expect. It was going to be his first university experience after all._

 _Was it going to be a re-run of high school?_

 _He wasn't going to let anyone see him sweat. If he could survive high school, he could survive a small camp. Why did he even sign up for this in the first place? Maybe he can come up with an excuse, or fake something, then maybe they would let them leave._

 _"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"_

 _He looks up, and is immediately floored. A boy his age was standing by the empty seat next to him. He had dark hair slicked down with gel, hazel eyes and his cheeks were tinged pink as he stood there awkwardly. Then Kurt realised that he had been staring and quickly stuttered, "ye-yeah. I mean. No. It's not taken. Feel free."_

 _"Thank you." The boy sighs and flops down on the seat, setting his huge backpack on the floor, "gosh my stuff is so heavy. Which OG are you in?"_

 _"I'm in Canary. You?"_

 _"Canary too!" He grins, and Kurt is almost blinded by his gorgeous pearly whites, "I'm Blaine."_

 _"Kurt."_

* * *

"And that concludes the first day of FAC!" Mercedes, their camp director, cheers and everyone in the room follows, "Seniors please bring your freshies back to the assigned classrooms where you all will be sleeping. I'll repeat it just in case. Sirens are sleeping in S16-03-01, Griffin in 03-02, Hydra in 03-03, Cerberus…"

"Should I go buy supper now?" Blaine leans over and asks Kurt, "so that the food will be here just as everyone finishes showering."

"Good idea. You can beat the other OGs there too so you don't have to wait so long." Kurt smiles, "Do you need help carrying all that food back? You need me to come with?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. It's only a short walk. Gotta rush, I think that Harpy over there has the same idea as us." Blaine nods over to the other OG at the end of the room.

"Oh then you better hurry. Call if you need help."

"Can you buy me some waffles?" Quinn, who's sitting in front of them, leans back and asks.

"Got it. See you!" With that, Blaine grabs his wallet and leaves the room stealthily.

"Blaine left to buy supper?" Elliot asks, looking around at the seniors of the other OGs, "heh, no one else has left yet. We're gonna get our food first."

"There's gonna be supper?" One of their freshies, Mason grins. Next to him, Madison claps excitedly.

"And that's it, see you all tomorrow!" Mercedes waves at all of them as she switches off the microphone. She pauses for a moment before switching it back on, "and I know that all of you are getting supper, so can someone order me a nutella milkshake?"

Everyone laughs and Sam, head senior of Chimera, yells out, "I'll get it for you."

Needless to say, the whole camp went nuts when she blew him a kiss back. She hushes them, cheeks pink with embarrassment, "alright, off you all go!"

* * *

"Finally!" Elliot sighs, walking into their assigned classroom. He drops his bags and some of Blaine's bags onto the floor, "what the hell did Blaine pack in there? Gold?"

"Probably all his hair gel." Rachel giggles, placing her stuff on the nearby chair.

The tables and chairs that belonged to the room had been pushed to the sides, leaving them with plenty of space for their sleeping bags on the floor to sleep.

Kurt lays the rest of Blaine's stuff on the floor and puts his own bags next to his, then he glances at the the clock; 1:51am. Still rather early. "Hey Griffin!"

Everyone in the room turns towards him, and Kurt clears his throat, "It's 1:51 now, so go shower and be back here by 2:35. We'll have supper and then sleep. Got it?"

He takes their tired groans and nods as a yes. "Okay, your seniors will show you the showers. Ladies, follow Rachel and Quinn, boys, with Elliot. Go go, before the other OGs grab all the stalls!" He shoos them away, a playful grin on his face when he sees the freshies scramble to gather their stuff and rush out of the room.

"Not showering?" Quinn wrinkles her nose as she walks past him.

"Later. Head seniors have a meeting now."

She nods then turns to the freshies waiting for her by the door, "c'mon let's go before Sirens next door hog all the stalls!"

* * *

"Kurt, I know that this is tradition and all, but can't we just skip it this once?" Rachel complains the second he comes back from his meeting.

"Rachel, you and I both know that HTHTs are camp tradition." Kurt tsks, then turning to the everyone that already returned, he says, "alright everyone, in a circle!"

His freshies grumble, all clearly exhausted from the games they played earlier but sit in a circle anyway. Kurt picks a spot between Rachel and a freshie, Sebastian, if he remembers correctly, and plops down between them. The other seniors follow suit, shooting the freshies intimidating smirks and Kurt found himself trying to stop giggling at their slightly scared faces. "So, it's HTHT time!"

"What's HTHT?" Madison asks, twirling her hair between her manicured nails.

"It's basically-"

"Sorry I'm late!" Blaine tumbles into the room, hands full of bags with their supper.

"Food!" Jeff wails, reaching for the bags with eager hands.

Blaine sets the bags down in the middle and joins the circle, "Dig in, guys! What did I miss?"

"Well before I was so rudely interrupted," Kurt glared at Blaine playfully as he reached forward to grab a box of chicken nuggets. "HTHT basically means heart to heart talks. It's camp tradition. And yes, it has to happen late at night, because that's when you're super tired and lose your filters and inhibitions."

"Nobody touch my sweet potato fries!" Rachel screeched, taking the box with an impish grin.

"Excerpt A." Blaine nodded in Rachel's direction.

"So how does it work?" Jane asks with a hand covering her mouth while she chewed.

"How about we do Traffic Lights first?" Rachel suggested and the rest of the seniors nodded in agreement. Then she explains, "alright, freshies, listen up. This is what you have to know. Green stands for single, amber means it's complicated, and red means that you're currently with someone. Oh yes, and evergreen means that you've never been with anyone. Lets go in a circle, all say your name then traffic light colour because I still can't remember some of you. I'll start; Rachel, green."

She then points to Nick who was sitting next to her, scarfing down a mouthful of cheese fries. He sputters and turns a bright red when he notices all the attention suddenly centered on him. "Uh, I'm Nick. Re-Red."

Everyone in the room lets out a collective ' _oooooh_ '.

"Oh wait, I forgot one more thing! For those who say red, you have to say how long you've been in a relationship." Rachel says, raising her eyebrow at Nick who looked like he wanted the ground to just open up and swallow him whole.

Finally, after a few seconds, he let out a sigh and mumbled, "two years."

"Awww..."

"Alright, next!"

Jeff grabs a chicken wing from the pile of food and with a small smile towards Nick, said, "Jeff, red, two years."

It took less than a second for it to click.

"Story! I wanna hear the story!"

"How'd you guys meet?"

"Hold up, we'll come back to them later, let's get everyone's traffic light colours first." Blaine laughs, motioning for them to carry on.

"Elliot, green."

And so it went on around the circle, one by one, they said their colours. Kurt didn't miss the way Mason's eyes brightened up when Jane mentioned that she was green, and he also didn't miss it when Jane hid a shy smile when Mason said that he was evergreen. He was going to have fun playing matchmaker for the next few days.

"Blaine, evergreen."

"Sebastian, green, _all_ the time." He directs a wolfish smile and wink in Blaine's direction, and Kurt couldn't help the familiar clench of jealousy tugging his stomach.

"And that, my dear freshies, is an example of flashing green; single and _very_ ready to mingle." Quinn gestures and everyone laughs.

A knock on the door makes them look up and Rachel yells out a muffled "yes?" with a mouthful of garlic bread.

"Hey Griffin," Tina, the head senior of Hydra, peeks her head in, "sorry to interrupt, but we have to cut the HTHT short tonight. Mercedes' orders. It'll be a tiring day tomorrow so it'll be better for all of you to get more sleep."

Kurt chuckles at the everyone's groans, either from relief or unhappiness he didn't know, but either way, he looked at the clock; 3:06 am, guess it was pretty late.

"We'll just finish the food then head to sleep. Does Hydra want any?" Blaine asks, gesturing to the boxes of unfinished food.

"My Hydra freshies are already sleeping. Poor things all so tired from today. Seniors are still awake though. Can I take some cheese fries?" She scoots into the room and Blaine rustles through the bags looking for another box.

"Here. Take some pizza too. We can't finish them all."

"Thanks, love. See you all tomorrow! Well, technically later today, but whatever. Goodnight!" Tina grins as she takes the boxes and leaves the room.

"Well then, I guess we're just left with our great leader's traffic light colour." Elliot looks at him expectantly.

The attention then shifts over to Kurt who slowly takes a sip of his iced tea. He feels the familiar flutter of butterflies thrum when he thinks about it; thinks about Blaine. Just like a year ago.

* * *

 _Kurt nibbles on his pizza as he watches his camp mates each state their name and colour. Despite his calm exterior, his mind was in an utter chaos. Anxiety thrummed in his chest and he suddenly lost his appetite._

 _It's going to be my turn soon oh my god, this will be how I die._

 _It actually wasn't a big deal, all he had to do was say his name and his colour. Simple. But he glanced around at his camp mates. Many were green and maybe a red or two. Sure there were a couple of other evergreens, but if he said evergreen would they feel that he was a prude or something?_

 _"Kurt? Your turn."_

 _"O-oh right." Just screw it, "Kurt, evergreen."_

 _To his surprise, everyone just nods and moves onto the next person, unaware of the huge load that was just lifted off his shoulders. But it's quickly replaced by another weight tugging on his heartstrings because Blaine was sitting next to him and it was his turn next._

 _Please be green, please be green, please be green._

 _"Hello, I'm Blaine, and um, evergreen."_

 _Score._

* * *

He clears his throat.

"Kurt," _evergreen_ , "amber."

And he immediately feels his heart stop.

 _Why the fuck did I say amber, I meant to say evergreen._

But the damage was already done.

"Ooooh, this I definitely need to hear."

"The first amber of the evening!"

"Storytime!"

Yet all of their catcalls and cheers just becomes background noise when he looks up to meet Blaine's confused eyes.

"Alright that's all for tonight, you heard Tina. Lights out now, and we'll continue tomorrow." Kurt laughs shakily.

Everyone grumbles, complaining that they wanted to hear stories but follows his orders anyway. Soon all the boxes were thrown and everyone was laying their sleeping bags on the floor.

"Hey Kurt, I'm going to the showers." Blaine tapped him on the shoulder.

"I'll go with you. Still haven't showered yet." He quickly searches his bags for his toiletries and clothes.

They leave the room, closing the door quietly behind them and made their way to the showers at the end of the floor.

Their slippers flopped against the tiles of the halls noisily, and the occasional muffled burst of laughter from the other OGs could be heard as they walked, but otherwise, they both remained silent. so when Blaine finally said something, it made him jump. "So… Amber?"

 _No._ "I-I guess so."

Blaine smiles at him, "well as your best friend and most trusted confidante I'm quite insulted that I didn't know until five minutes ago."

"Well…"

"You really like him?"

"No!" Kurt huffed, crossing his arms and directing his attention to the floor as they rounded the corner to the bathroom.

"...You're a terrible liar." He's using that same tone that always puts Kurt at ease, that makes him feel cozy, warm, and _loved_.

Kurt didn't have to look at Blaine to know that he was looking at him with that warm, knowing smile on his face. It usually puts him at ease, but today, with how vulnerable he's feeling, it feels like Blaine's gaze is just piercing through his core.

"Oh my god." Blaine stops walking and Kurt jerks up in surprise, turning back to look at him

"You're in love." He says quietly, and then with a grin, slightly louder, "you're in love with him! Aren't you?"

 _Yes I am, you idiot, I'm in love with you. I have been for so long._ "If you say so."

"Kurt…" Blaine draws his name out, pouting before shaking his head and grabbing Kurt firmly by his shoulders. "I'm happy for you. Whoever he is, he's a lucky guy. And I really hope that I will get to meet him one day."

With that, he clapped him on the shoulder and walked into the shower stall, shutting the door with a resolute _thud_.

* * *

 _It hurts. Oh god it really hurts._

Blaine crumples to the floor, back against the door that he just closed. Where Kurt was standing at the opposite side.

Kurt. The boy that he's been in love with for close to a year. Kurt who's apparently found someone, because he was too slow.

 _Just breathe._

To his horror, he felt his throat clench and the sting of tears at his eyes.

 _No. Don't cry. Be happy for him, he's happy. Breathe, Blaine breathe._

Lurching up, he turned the shower knob so the sound of water pelting against the floor could mask the sound of his deep breathing.

One way or another, he would get through this.

* * *

Neither spoke as they showered, and the silence continued when Kurt finished, only the sound of water pelting against tiles reverberated through the bathroom. Kurt looks at himself in the mirror, arms wrapping around his waist as he chews on his lower lip.

The water suddenly stops, and a minute or so passes before Blaine comes out, dressed in shorts and a baggy sleep shirt. Curls free from gel, some falling to frame his forehead as he runs his towel through them.

Gone were all the layers. Blaine was stripped down and vulnerable. It was a sight that Kurt rarely got to see. And he wasn't even surprised when the words he'd been keeping back for so long tumbled past his lips.

"It's you."

"I'm sorry?" Blaine turns to him, still towelling his hair dry.

"It's you." Kurt says it clearer this time, "It's always been you. There's never been anyone else."

"You've got to be kidding me." Blaine lets out a humourless laugh.

"What?"

He lowers his towel to the table, "I did not just spend my time in the shower trying to get over you, to have you suddenly say that you like me."

"Blaine."

"Kurt, I can't do that. I just can't." He's whimpering, he could feel his voice tremble and he brings his towel back up to bury his face into the fabric.

"Blaine? Blaine, listen to me." Kurt's voice was shaky too, and he gently placed his hands on the towel in Blaine's hands. "Look at me? Please?"

"Kurt..." the towel finally lowers, and panicked hazel eyes met his.

"Listen to me, alright B? There isn't anyone else. There hasn't been anyone ever since I met you. It's always been you." Kurt explains, hands holding Blaine's trembling ones.

"B-but you said amber?" He stammers.

"Well I honestly wanted to say evergreen, but I kept thinking about last FAC and then the whole year that we spent together in classes and how complicated it was because I really really like you but I didn't want to risk our friendship if you didn't feel the same way. So the word amber just came out." He was rambling, but he had to let everything out, "but I'm finally seeing it clearly now. It doesn't have to be complicated because it just boils down to the fact I really like you, Blaine, and I don't want to hide it anymore."

"Kurt..."

He wasn't sure who leaned in first, but their lips met in a gentle kiss. Just the softest press of lips, before they pulled back slowly, breaking into quiet chuckles.

"I really like you too." Blaine leans on his toes to nuzzle Kurt's nose in an eskimo kiss. "In the past year, just spending time with you in classes and everything, I think that I just slowly fell in love. I just didn't know or when to tell you, but now I can just say it. I'm in love with you."

Kurt presses a kiss to Blaine's cheek, arms raising to rest on his shoulders, "I love you too."

They both just stood there quietly, holding each other close and basking in their moment. Then Kurt noticed that Blaine's towel had fallen to the ground from before and he bends to pick it up, "aw it's dirty now."

"We should probably head back." Blaine says as he folds and puts the towel in the laundry bag.

"I don't really feel like sleeping though." Kurt looked so glum and Blaine wanted to just kiss that those pouty lips of his. "I just want to spend more time with you."

"We don't have to sleep. We'll just put our stuff in the room and come out again. We can sit at the sofas outside the rooms till we feel like sleeping." Blaine suggests, taking Kurt's hand in his as they walked out of the bathroom.

"Good idea." Kurt lifts their joined hands and kisses the back Blaine's hand.

When they return to the room, everyone was already asleep, some even snoring loudly. A quick look to the clock told them that it was 4:02am. As quietly as they could, they put their laundry bags down, trying to navigate through the maze of sleeping bags as they walked in the dark, hands never letting go of each other.

They finally made it out of the room, trying desperately to stop giggling like a couple of six year olds sneaking around.

"We have to get up at 6:45." Kurt sighs, dropping down onto the sofa.

"Slightly less than three hours of sleep. Sounds like camp to me." Blaine laughs, curling up next to him. "You know, I was waiting for the last day of camp to do something hugely romantic to woo you. It could be like our anniversary of sorts since that's how we met."

"We'll be spending the last day of camp at the beach, what did you have in mind? And seriously, Blaine? Woo me? What are we, in the 80s?"

"No, but I had a whole grand plan written out. I even saved it in my phone." He quickly fished it out of his pocket.

As Kurt scrolled through the memo titled 'The Master Plan To Woo Kurt', he couldn't help but stifle a few giggles. "You wanted to 'write romantic quotes on the sand' and build a 'sandcastle of love'? Blaine!"

"They're good ideas Kurt, stop laughing." Blaine huffs, resting his forehead on Kurt's shoulder, trying to hide his own growing smile.

"And also 'hold hands and run off into the sunset together'?"

"They do it all the time in movies!"

"Well I think that this plan of yours is adorable," Kurt leans down to smack a noisy kiss on his forehead, " and I also think that you're adorable."

"Not even together for an hour and we're already so sappy." Blaine cuddled closer into his side, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

The next morning, it was clear that they were quite high from their lack of sleep and new relationship, from bouncing around the bathroom as they washed their faces, to singing duets with frothy mouths using their toothbrushes as microphones. Sure, they got some judging stares from other people, but they were in their happy little bubble, oblivious to it all.

Their bubble lasts till breakfast, when Tina suggests that Griffin and Hydra have a combined breakfast.

"Alright guys, since Hydra didn't get to HTHT last night, we'll do it now. Seniors can go first, and Hydra freshies can learn. Traffic Lights, lets go!" Tina declares once they all sit in a circle, "Tina, red, three years."

"Mike, red, three years and counting."

"Elliot, still green."

"Blaine," he looks up to smile at Kurt next to him, "red."

Everyone in Griffin either gawks or yells in shock.

"Weren't you evergreen yesterday?" Sebastian scowls.

"Well..." he just shrugs and looks at Kurt and everyone follows his gaze.

"Kurt, red, close to five hours." Kurt smiles, reaching to take Blaine's hand.

And when both Hydra and Griffin roar with cheers, howls and laughter, he finds himself joining in, unable to help the huge smile on his face.

"We'll come back for you two later!" Rachel grins and points accusingly at them before gesturing for the next person to continue. "We definitely need to hear this story."

"Love you." Blaine whispers into his ear and he couldn't help but plant a soft kiss to his hairline.

"Love you too."


End file.
